options

A possible agreement or pieces of a potential agreement upon which negotiators might possibly agree. Options can include substantive terms and conditions, procedures, contingencies, even deliberate omissions or ambiguities Ð anything parties might agree on that might help to satisfy their respective interests. (Michael L. Moffitt and Robert C. Bordone, eds., Handbook of Dispute Resolution [Program on Negotiation/Jossey-Bass, 2005], 283)

The following items are tagged options.

Jeswald Salacuse Article Published in Tufts Magazine

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation, News.

PON Executive Committee member Jeswald Salacuse published a column in the Winter 2011 issue of Tufts Magazine.

“Opening Moves: They Can Make or Break Any Deal” suggests that how a negotiation ends can be directly affected by how the negotiation begins.

Before entering a negotiation, he suggests you consider these three factors: 1) Your options; 2) The

Make Your Best Offer Look Better

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

Adapted from “Picking the Right Frame: Make Your Best Offer Seem Better,” by Max H. Bazerman (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Imagine that you bought a house in 2000 for $400,000. You have just put it on the market for $499,000, with a real target of $470,000—your estimation of the house’s

Should You Dwell on Past Negotiation Outcomes?

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution, Daily.

Adapted from “Learn to Negotiate with an Open Mind,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

After wrapping up a difficult negotiation, it’s tempting to forget about it and move on. The regret triggered by counterfactual thinking, or reflections on “what might have been,” can be so painful that many people will do whatever they can to

Limit Their Options—and Expand the Pie

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

Adapted from “Will Your Proposals Hit the Mark?” First published in the Negotiation newsletter.

In our society, we’re bombarded with a multitude of decisions each day, beginning with the increasingly complex question of how to order our morning coffee. In his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less (Ecco, 2004), Swarthmore College psychology professor

New PON Teaching Materials About the Work of Martti Ahtisaari, 2010 Great Negotiator Award Recipient

Posted by & filed under Daily, Great Negotiator Award, International Negotiation, Negotiation Skills, Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (Pedagogy @ PON).

The Program on Negotiation’s 2010 Great Negotiator Award was given to former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari, for his many significant achievements in the fields of negotiation and diplomacy. He was central to the Namibian independence negotiations in the late 1980s. He also served as chief United Nations negotiator to Kosovo from 2005-2006, and was instrumental

Dealing With Constituents

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Adapted from “Dealing with Backstage Negotiators,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiated agreements sometimes go off the rails in the final hour because one side caves in to a constituent’s wishes despite having the authority to make a commitment. Because people tend to approach negotiations with an “us versus them” mentality, they may succumb to

Letting Them Down Easy

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily, Negotiation Skills, Webcasts.

First published in the Negotiation newsletter.

In recent years, a number of new Web-based systems have changed the very structure of negotiation as we know it. One of most famous of these is Priceline.com, which allows consumers to make bids for rental cars, hotel rooms, and air travel-bids that the car-rental firms, hotels, and airlines can

Stevenson Carlebach

Posted by & filed under Affiliated Faculty, PON Affiliated Faculty.

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Stevenson Carlebach, Director of Eque LLC, is an independent trainer and consultant in the fields of negotiation, communication, and dispute resolution. Much of his work focuses on strategic relationship management for Fortune 500 companies all over the world, including Goldman Sachs, BP Amoco, L.L. Bean, Citigroup, IBM, PWC, Microsoft and Deloitte & Touche. In addition to teaching, Stevenson also designs programs, consults and coaches executives.

Everyday Ingenuity

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

Adapted from the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiation expert Roger Fisher sagely counsels, “Solutions are not the answer.” Instead of tossing demands back and forth on their way to an outcome, negotiators should focus on the process of exploring their underlying needs and interests. Get the process right, and practical solutions often follow.

But process still depends on the

Help Your Organization Do More with Less

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Adapted from “How to Do More with Less,” by Lawrence Susskind (professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Times are tough, and managers need to find a way to squeeze more out of every contract negotiation. How can you improve how your organization negotiates?

Though we tend to think of negotiation as an